Adventures in the Rocky Mountain *

Traveling to the Rocky Mountains has always been my dream which had formed even before my arrival to Canada when I had seen the pictures of the beautiful and magnificent mountains for the first time. While studying grade 11 at Notre Dame I was dreaming about the road trip to the Rockies with my family in the summer. It has become my sun, shining during hard times.

Our road trip officially started on Thursday, July 21, 2016 when me, my aunt and my uncle left home, packed up for 9 days in the mountains and very excited about our journey. We were driving by the Highway #3 whose nickname, created by our family, is Raven's Nest Highway which leads by American border. The raven was accompanying us almost all way up to the Rockies, through Summerland and Osoyoos- regions of everlasting wineries and the sweetest peaches, Grand Forks- small town in the middle of nowhere, and Cranbrook-foothills of the Banff National Park.

The real adventure started by entering the Kootenay National Park and suddenly mountains were everywhere around us, still and motionlessly watching everyone. We continued to Canmore, city which is hidden in the heart of the mountains. Our legs were really stiff after long drive so we went for a hike the next day. It appeared that our destination-Sulphur Mountain was the best choice because we saw absolutely breathtaking views of Banff and all mountains around. The sceneries were so beautiful that they looked like paintings, created by talented artist. Our journey became very exciting during next few days. We could fully experience the atmosphere of the Rockies while visiting many places and seeing uncountable number of nature wonders, such as Lake Louis or Lake Moraine. I especially liked driving through Icefield Parkway when we didn't have service all day and the only action we could do was staring out of the windows and watching the beauty and peacefulness around. My favourite places were Peyto Lake, Crowfoot Glacier, Athabasca Glacier and Athabasca Falls.

Athabasca Falls in Jasper National Park

We slowly reached National Park Jasper on Tuesday where the landscape has completely changed and it impressed me. Every single mountain was so different but so similar at the same time. We were again captivated by the stillness and awesomeness of the Maligne Lake, Pyramid Lake and the Whistlers mountain.

Lake Moraine

However, there was one incident which fascinated me so much. I've grown up in the small village in the Czech Republic so I often saw some small forest animals. Although it has never happened to me that I would meet them in such a closeness as in the Rocky Mountains.

We woke up very early, about 6 a.m. on Tuesday, July 28, 2016 and we were driving for a hike close to Miette Hot Springs. First, we saw four deer, eating their breakfast by reception building. Moreover, as we were passing small lake the two huge elks with even bigger antlers appeared by the road.

Huge elk with antlers, spotted by road in Jasper

I was speechless because I have never seen such a majestic animal, standing two metres from our car, on my own eyes. Later on, when we were going to Maligne Lake we spotted three grizzly cubs. They were so cute that I wanted to hug and pet them but we all know it would not end up well. haha.

Grizzly bear, eating by highway in Alberta

At the end of that amazing day we became friends with fury mountain goats which wanted to eat our lunch.

Our last stops were in Yoho National Park and Glacier National Park on Thursday July 29, 2016 as our last goodbye to the Rocky Mountains. Believe me, it was very sad to leave for us. We are already very excited to come again .The road trip was one of the best experiences during my stay in Canada because I could explore part of British Columbia and Alberta and also figured out that Canada is one of the most beautiful countries in the world.